Mpeg Streamclip Settings

[MowingDevil]

Hi, sorry for my noob questions here.

I've been able to rip a movie off a DVD using this program and didn't seem to need a $20 Apple codex. Does that mean its not a good quality then?

I went to "export to other formats" and chose a DV option (DV-DVCPRO - NTSC) because I didn't want it to be too compressed. Still when I played it back at original size it was rather small...since the DVD is for playing on TVs I figured it would be larger. I'm just winging it here. What is the best options/settings to get high quality footage? I'd like to edit in iMovie and end up with good quality that could be played back on a TV.

 

[-DH]

I've been able to rip a movie off a DVD using this program and didn't seem to need a $20 Apple codex. Does that mean its not a good quality then?.

If you already have the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component installed on your system MPEG Streamclip should work just fine. If you didn't have it, MEPG Streamclip wouldn't be able to convert the muxed MEPG-2 VOB files into an editable format.

I went to "export to other formats" and chose a DV option (DV-DVCPRO - NTSC) because I didn't want it to be too compressed. Still when I played it back at original size it was rather small...since the DVD is for playing on TVs I figured it would be larger..

iMovie uses a DV stream (.dv) and since DV is 720x480 pixels, that's the size you should be getting. If it isn't what is the pixel resolution of your files?

What is the best options/settings to get high quality footage? I'd like to edit in iMovie and end up with good quality that could be played back on a TV.

DVD-Video is already in a highly compressed format. Converting it for editing, the compressing again for going back to DVD-Video WILL reduce quality. If you want better quality, don't use DVD-Video as a source. Get the footage in it's original format, then edit and compress only once.

-DH

 

[MowingDevil]

If you already have the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component installed on your system MPEG Streamclip should work just fine. If you didn't have it, MEPG Streamclip wouldn't be able to convert the muxed MEPG-2 VOB files into an editable format.

How would I find out if I have that or not? Does it come w/ Streamclip?

iMovie uses a DV stream (.dv) and since DV is 720x480 pixels, that's the size you should be getting. If it isn't what is the pixel resolution of your files?

That is the size of the file I got off the DVD.

DVD-Video is already in a highly compressed format. Converting it for editing, the compressing again for going back to DVD-Video WILL reduce quality. If you want better quality, don't use DVD-Video as a source. Get the footage in it's original format, then edit and compress only once.

Can I pull it off the DVD in it's original format? Not sure how to do that/which setting. Thanks so much for your help!

 

[-DH]

How would I find out if I have that or not? Does it come w/ Streamclip?

It doesn't come with MPEG Streamclip. On the squared5 website, it tells you that you'll need the component to work with MPEG-2 files. I cannot remember where the component gets installed on your system ... although I think it is somewhere in the main Library folder.

From: http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-mac.html
"For MPEG-2 playback and conversion, you need the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component. You can buy it from Apple (www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2). If you have either Final Cut Pro or DVD Studio Pro, then the component is already installed and you don't have to buy it; but you may need to download the latest version from Apple. If you bought an older version of the component, you can update it to the latest version (www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/update). Note that the MPEG-2 component is neither required nor useful for MPEG-1 or MPEG-4 files. But it is required for VOB files and transport streams, because they are MPEG-2 files."

That is the size of the file I got off the DVD.

Then that's the right size. Why did you think it was "rather small?"

Can I pull it off the DVD in it's original format?

No. Once it's compressed to MPEG-2 (in the form of VOB files), it looses quality. When you convert it to an editable format, new frames have to be created to fill in between the I frames ... which also can cause some quality loss. After you edit and compress it again to become a DVD-Video, it looses quality.

I'm assuming that you aren't ripping off someone else's work and that you have the original footage on tape or on a hard drive somewhere (hopefully this wasn't shot on a cheap DVD or HDD based camcorder). That's the format you should edit with to maintain the best quality.

-DH

 

[MowingDevil]

In terms of small, I suppose I just expected a larger size when I hit "actual size" in Quicktime. Since it was originally intended for playback on a TV I assumed the actual size would fill up my screen (or close to it). Thats ok, it serves my purpose for editing. The quality looks fine to me.

Now I've used Final Cut before years ago but don't have it myself...so I'll probably be using iMovie. What is the best format for iMovie, .mov or .dv?

I don't think I even have to bother with MPEG-2 files in this case. Not sure where I got that now....think I read that iMovie works with those files or something along those lines. Am I correct to assume DV files are superior? Obviously MPEG files are compressed, are DV as well?

No. Once it's compressed to MPEG-2 (in the form of VOB files), it looses quality. When you convert it to an editable format, new frames have to be created to fill in between the I frames ... which also can cause some quality loss. After you edit and compress it again to become a DVD-Video, it looses quality.

Ah, so Streamclip compresses the DVD into VOB files which are MPEG-2? ...and then can turn it into DV files from there? ...adding the extra frames etc. So how do you pull pull footage in best quality if need be? ...or are the DVDs already compressed to VOB?

No I'm not ripping off anyone's work; simply doing some tests for a music video and trying out vintage footage (50-60+ yrs old) to see how it looks. If something really clicks we'll either seek out the clearance or recreate something on our own. There's a good chance this footage I'm looking at is public domain but that will have to be looked into obviously.

 

[-DH]

In terms of small, I suppose I just expected a larger size when I hit "actual size" in Quicktime. Since it was originally intended for playback on a TV I assumed the actual size would fill up my screen (or close to it). Thats ok, it serves my purpose for editing. The quality looks fine to me.

Now I've used Final Cut before years ago but don't have it myself...so I'll probably be using iMovie. What is the best format for iMovie, .mov or .dv?

I don't think I even have to bother with MPEG-2 files in this case. Not sure where I got that now....think I read that iMovie works with those files or something along those lines. Am I correct to assume DV files are superior? Obviously MPEG files are compressed, are DV as well?

Ah, so Streamclip compresses the DVD into VOB files which are MPEG-2? ...and then can turn it into DV files from there? ...adding the extra frames etc. So how do you pull pull footage in best quality if need be? ...or are the DVDs already compressed to VOB?

No I'm not ripping off anyone's work; simply doing some tests for a music video and trying out vintage footage (50-60+ yrs old) to see how it looks. If something really clicks we'll either seek out the clearance or recreate something on our own. There's a good chance this footage I'm looking at is public domain but that will have to be looked into obviously.

DVD-Video consists of specially formatted MPEG-2 video, multiplexed with the audio in the form of VOB files. MPEG Streamclip doesn't make those ... but it can convert them to an editable format. Since DVD-Video (and other variations of MPEG-2) are delivery formats, they have to be converted IF you want to edit them. For editing in iMovie, you'd want to convert to a DV stream (.dv) since iMovie works natively with that format.

DV is 720x480 rectangular pixels, which is the same as 640x480 square pixels; the pixel dimensions of standard NTSC TV ... so it will fill a 4:3 TV screen.

-DH

 

[MowingDevil]

Thanks DH, makes perfect sense!

So are Blu-Ray discs pure uncompressed HD video?

 

[-DH]

Thanks DH, makes perfect sense! So are Blu-Ray discs pure uncompressed HD video?

Nope. Pure uncompressed HD would be far too large to fit on a Blu-ray disc. The Blu-ray spec calls for MPEG-2 or a couple of variants of MPEG-4.

-DH

 

[Heb1228]

It may be worth mentioning that MPEG streamclip has the ability to cut and paste video clips. You can't add transitions or titles or anything, but if you just need the video as it already exists, you can avoid transcoding to DV and the ensuing quality loss.

 

[dgarmaise]

I am not entirely sure what "cut and paste" means in this context, but it is probably not relevant to my question anyhow. If I have used Streamclip to take five or six clips from several concert DVDs I bought, using the "save as..." feature so as not to lose the surround sound (which produces files with a .vob extension), is there a way to compile these clips on one DVD, retaining surround sound? (Without using Final Cut Pro and Co0mpressor, if possible!).

 

[Heb1228]

is there a way to compile these clips on one DVD, retaining surround sound?

The only easy way I know of to do this is in Roxio Toast, you can drag the .vob files to a Video DVD and choose the option where it will not re-encode the video file. It will make a menu for you with a link to each clip, and you can choose to have all the videos play straight through.

I'm not aware of any free software that will let you do the same thing.

 

[dgarmaise]

Thanks. I have read that Roxio Toast does not support surround sound.

 

[Jungleeye]

Blu-Ray dvds and Mpeg Streamclip

Hi,

I have a Macbook Pro with Leopard, and final cut studio 2.
I have Mpeg streamclip, it can read dvds (vob-mpeg2).
- Can Macbook Pro read Blu-ray dvds?
- Can I watch and edit Blu-Ray dvds with Mpeg Streamclip?
- If not, what do I need to use to get images or video content from Blu-Ray dvds?

Thanks!

 

[dgarmaise]

MKV files

I have a related question. I see that many blue-ray DVDs are in an mkv file format. Is this fairly standard? How to convert mkv to a format MPEG Streamclip can work with while still retaining all (surround sound) audio tracks?